9441.1992(27)

United States Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response

August 26, 1992

SUBJECT:  Regulatory Status of Printed Circuit Boards

FROM:     Sylvia K. Lowrance, Director
          Office of Solid Waste

TO:       Waste Management Division Directors,
          Regions I-X

     Printed electronic circuit boards are major components of
personal computers in widespread use in the U.S. today. As updated
computer equipment becomes available, the older (but still usable)
equipment is often placed into surplus, or is reclaimed/reused. The
old equipment may be disassembled and the usable parts salvaged.
Parts may also be scrapped and processed for metal values due to
their obsolescence, even though they are still usable. 

     After the printed circuit boards themselves are disassembled,
recovering usable components, the boards are often shredded or
otherwise processed, and/or burned as part of the reclamation
process. Later, base metals (lead, copper) or precious metals
(e.g., gold, silver, or platinum) can be reclaimed through
additional processing. 

     The International Precious Metals Institute (IPMI) has written
to EPA and requested a determination under RCRA Subtitle C for the
status of used printed circuit boards. The regulatory status of
unused circuit boards (considered commercial chemical products) and
by-product wastes from circuit board production are not affected by
this memorandum. The Agency is planning to study the area of used
printed circuit boards in more depth; however, our interim
interpretation is discussed below. 

     The EPA believes that based upon the way in which used printed
circuit boards are originally generated, these materials most
clearly meet the definition of spent materials (261.1(c)(1)).
However, we have further examined whether these boards can also be
classified as scrap metal under 261.1(c)(6). Scrap metal is
defined based in large part on the physical appearance of a
secondary material, dependent on the presence of metal, and
includes secondary materials that would otherwise be spent
materials or by-products. 


     As a matter of policy, the Agency has decided that
unprocessed, spent (i.e., used) printed circuit boards are subject
to regulation as scrap metal for the purposes of 261.6(a)(3)(iv),
and are therefore exempt from RCRA Subtitle C regulation when
recycled. The Agency has made this determination largely because 1)
metals can be recovered from the pieces of metal parts that are an
integral part of these circuit boards, and 2) unprocessed circuit
boards are in a physical state similar to the type of recycled
materials the Agency intended to be exempted by providing examples
in the scrap metal definition (e.g., "metal parts . . . which when
worn or superfluous can be recycled"). The physical state of the
unprocessed spent circuit boards limits the dispersion of metal
constituents during the handling and transport of the spent printed
circuit boards similar to the materials defined as scrap metal in
the regulatory language. (Note that this determination is limited
to spent circuit boards and does not apply to other spent
materials.) 

     After the boards are processed (including shredding, grinding,
burning or smelting), the resulting material (e.g., shredded
pieces, sweeps/ash, fluff, or baghouse dust) may no longer be
similar to the materials that meet the definition of a scrap metal.
The Agency believes that certain materials generated from the
processing of spent printed circuit boards may be in a physical
state which is inherently different from the more "traditional"
scrap metal materials, the latter of which includes bars, turnings,
rods, sheets, wire, bolts, etc. Spent circuit board processing,
particularly those reclamation steps that do not involve simple
physical processing, may generate materials in a form which allows
the dispersion of hazardous constituents during subsequent
handling. Therefore, some of these materials may not meet the
definition of, nor the intent of, the scrap metal definition
(analogous to the fluff generated by the shredding of scrap
automobiles). Thus, at this point, the processed material may no
longer be exempt from regulation as scrap metal, and could be
subject to regulation as a spent material (e.g., shredded boards
derived from spent circuit boards), a by-product (e.g.,
sweeps/ash), or a sludge (e.g., baghouse dust). 

     The processor must determine whether the processed material is
a solid waste, and if so, whether it exhibits a characteristic of
a hazardous waste, and manage the material accordingly (assuming
the material no longer meets the definition of scrap metal). If the
generator/processor determines that a material meets the regulatory
definition of solid waste but believes the processed (i.e.,
partially reclaimed) material should be classified as a product
rather than a solid waste, an application can be made to the
Regional Administrator or authorized State regulatory agency for a
case-by-case variance under section 260.30(c) of RCRA. In addition,
if the processed material is a hazardous waste that contains
economically significant amounts of recoverable precious metals
then the materials would be subject to reduced regulations under
Part 266, Subpart F.

     This determination is limited to circuit boards. For further
information about this interpretation, please contact Allen Maples
or Ross Elliott of the Regulatory Development Branch at (202) 260-
8551.

cc:  RCRA Enforcement Branch Chiefs, Regions I-X; NEIC; OWPE;
     OE; IPMI